Maybe one of these days I would be brave enough to remain in the kitchen. Brave enough to study the footprints and gain information from them. Brave enough to see if the murderer would try to attack me.

Tonight, I was too exhausted. I scrambled into the bathroom, shutting the door once Killie leapt inside.

I placed a hand over my mouth, since I heard myself breathing. It was a struggle not to try and force air back into myself. To keep quiet. I heard the creaking staircase as the mysterious person walked down the stairs. I must have been a ridiculous sight, curled on the floor, eating my fish and chips, listening to the creaking of the staircase.

I sensed the person moving into the kitchen in a careful, slow pace. I held my breath, tears streaming down my face. I didn’t want to draw any attention to myself. Despite my sanity over fifty percent, I was exhausted.

The person left the kitchen, entering the entertainment room, and I remained in the bathroom. I couldn’t go out there again. I had done enough exploring. I wasn’t sure what I’d expect with the comfort food, but it was somehow more exhausting to have it than not. But I didn’t want to know what would happen if I ran out completely.

I waited in the silence, waited until I felt the shift in the air. Waited for the pressure that I felt on every part of my body as my hair stood on end. They were here.

“Just depression,” I whispered, trying to do the same thing with them as I did Theo. Surely being able to pinpoint what it was made it less terrifying.

Sure. Taking a huge concept like depression and putting it in monster form would somehow make me not feel terrified. That wasn’t how depression worked.

I heard the thuds as they approached the fence. Tears continued to flow down my cheeks. My sanity dropped. There was absolutely nothing I could do. I sank to the ground, feeling the pure silence of them. There was a crack, then they bellowed. I used the noise they made to let out my own sob. I was so exhausted. So damn exhausted. I couldn’t keep doing this to myself, but I didn’t have a choice. Every time they came, this was what happened.

They tried again at the fence. I couldn’t explain this fear. It was so primal, so instinctual. It felt like falling in the ocean, dropping deeper and deeper into the dark. Like opening my eyes and not seeing anything, yet knowing there was something here. Of course there was something in the ocean. There was always something in the ocean, and the deeper I went, the darker, more twisted the creatures became.

I couldn’t breathe. Not unless I focused on the motions of breathing and forced myself to. The pressure of them pushed me on every side.

Another crack, another bellow. I pulled out another plate of fish and chips and ate it in three bites.

Eaten too many comfort foods. Penalty applied.

I didn’t have the energy to ask what that could possibly mean. The tip of my stamina bar grayed out. Until that gray mark left, I couldn’t reach full stamina.

I wanted to scream. To shout. To fight.

But I had no energy.

It was gone.

They gave a final bellow, and my sanity dropped so fast that I pulled out another plate without thinking about it and finished it in three bites.

I had a chunk of sanity left, with a larger chunk of stamina grayed out. I could feel them leave as I remained shivering on the ground. I got up, crawling to the bedroom as I considered what happened tonight. Thoughts were the only thing churning through my mind right now as I lifted one foot in front of the other.

Theo, Ring around the rosies, whispers, posies, dead, ashes, blood, murdered, footsteps, fish and chips, stamina, lost, grayed out, them, exhausted.

Exhausted…

…exhausted…

I collapsed onto my bed. I was aware of the window, of what I discovered at sunset. Someone might be out there. But the energy and mental fortitude it would take to get out of bed and check was way too much. I ran out of energy to care.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

“Tomorrow,” I mumbled. I would think about everything tomorrow. I forced myself to go to sleep.

And woke up in a dark room. I stared at the wall, taking a deep breath then letting it out. I hated this feature. Their attack always felt like such a huge thing, and I wanted my sleep to actually feel restful. Instead, I sat up, staring at the ground for a few moments to reorient myself to what happened.

They attacked, and they will be back in a measly three days. It would rain for three straight days, and I wasn’t sure how to get that cap off my stamina. I thought sleeping would do it, but the grayed out area remained.

I would get that back, right? I’d ask that of the ceiling, but I was still trying to wake up. My sanity was at seventy-five percent. My stamina, too, was half way full, even though there was plenty of space between the halfway mark and the grayed out area of my stamina. Must be another penalty. I guess I couldn’t just chow down on comfort foods with no consequences.

“I hate this,” my mouth said, the words feeling like mud leaving my mouth.

I forced my body to get out of bed, walking out of the room and into the entertainment room. The steady rhythm of the rain was almost melodic, but it instilled a sense of dread in me. I needed to know what my to-do list would be. I kept rubbing the sleep from my eyes, hoping that would somehow give me energy, but what I really needed was a good, long, relaxing sleep. Something I hadn’t had since I came to this strange place.

I grabbed the phone, pressing the number one and waited to hear the familiar female voice.

“In three days, they will come. In three days, they will destroy. This is the last attack of the season. They will have grown stronger than any other times they’ve attacked so far.”

That alone sapped strength out of my knees, causing them to quake.

“There are two things you must do if you hope to survive. Strengthen the fence and find the furnace. It will rain for three straight days. By the second day your house will get cold. A cold that is similar to the cold outside. If you do not find the furnace, you will have to keep eating food even inside.

“Further instructions will follow…”

I stared at the kitchen island, my mind freezing with horror. Three days straight of rain. Only two things on my to-do list. Somehow this small list filled me with a dread I didn’t expect to feel.

I grabbed the list and tore it off.

Strengthen the fence

Find, fix, and feed the furnace

I swallowed, glancing out the window. It was blurry as rain pelted against it. I let out a sigh, trying not to panic. I hadn’t seen a furnace the entire time I was here. An entire season. Did I need a furnace? Where was a furnace, anyway? This seemed unnecessary. There was no electricity. How could a furnace run if there was no electricity?

At that moment in time, the fridge started whirring, and I blinked. It was almost as though the alien overlords were giving their own sort of message without putting a snarky reply into my vision.

I gave a sigh, my lips pursed. “Fine,” I muttered. “I’ll find the furnace.”

My first priority, as always, was the fences. I walked outside, starting to shiver in the rain as I checked the tool. I had been so distracted with the process of waking up that I forgot my experiment. The finished bricks were still in the tool untouched, and the food left in my inventory were there. Which meant I had just gained ten more storage spots, and the tool was a safe place from the wolf. I was far more excited about the discovery of my inventory, because I had a feeling the tool would be in a constant state of use that it shouldn’t be relied on as a storage unit.

I remembered the other thing I needed to do. Even thinking about it made my energy leave again.

“Quick look,” I said to myself as I moved around the storage unit in the rain. “Quick check. Just to see. Need information.”

My head popped over the storage unit, staring at the ground. It was hard to see with so much rain, and I was still shivering. I approached the window and saw it. Another beer can.

The second my sanity started to shiver I ran from the house. Part of me still pushed the horror down, tried not to think about it. I didn’t want to think about it. Someone was here. That was… good information to have. I’d study it more. Later.

I quickly did my morning routine, refusing to touch my soup until my stamina started to drop. Some gamer habits couldn’t die.

“You know,” I said as I picked tomatoes in the greenhouse. “The thing about rain in farming games is that… it’s kind of nice not needing to water the crops.” I finished picking the tomatoes and grabbed the watering can. “It’s like a free day from these responsibilities, because the rain already waters them. It makes something to look forward to on a rainy day, because your morning routine gets cut shorter. More time to do other things.” I walked out of the first greenhouse and into the second. “Just food for thought.”

There was silence as I watered the lettuce. I hadn’t planted any carrots, but now that I knew they were a core ingredient in salads, it wouldn’t hurt to plant some more. I always wanted the option to cook inside and not over a fire.

“To be clear, I’m talking to you alien overlords. We haven’t talked in a while. Just thought… you wanted my opinion.”

Silence again. I sighed, moving to buy some carrot seeds. “It’d give me more time to find a furnace, anyway. Where is the furnace? I have no idea.”

My mind decided to focus on that as I finished planting carrot seeds and moved on to the chicken coop. I complimented Daisy once again on such a beautiful egg.

Once everything was done and I ate a bowl of soup, I walked out to the main fence. I stared at the words above it.

0/150 logs

The more I stared at it, the more nauseous I felt. That was a lot of logs. That was more logs than they’ve ever asked for. They would be stronger, it was what the female said. Which meant if they broke through, if I couldn’t strengthen these fences…

If they asked for bricks…

My measly forty-five bricks didn’t feel like they’d be enough. That thought caused all the warmth I felt from the soup chill me to the bone.

I had to know. Which meant I had to start filling out the demands for the fence. No more time to waste. I only had three days.